Saturday, March 14, 2009

Finally a Loss for the Milwaukee Opposition

Looks like Scott Walker got what was coming to him, a big loss. By refusing to compromise on how to spend $91 million in existing transit funds from the federal government, he was delaying the process for an indefinite period of time. However Mayor Barrett made a smart move by getting 60% of the money put towards a new streetcar loop and 40% for bus lines (probably express buses, not real BRT) with the help of Wisconsin's congressional delegation.

This is a huge win for the City of Milwaukee which has been getting screwed by suburban planning and leadership for too long. This ought to make the crazy talk shows up there go nuts. The walls are going down, keep pushing.

3 comments:

Justin said...

It sounds like it will be express buses.

Anonymous said...

Yea the bus side of things if they actually happen will be more likely express buses than true BRT. The interesting thing is Scott Walker recently said he wouldn't take stimulus funds if there was a local match. Well this is stimulus funds (it's old ISTEA 92 funds), but it requires a local match.

As far as the streetcar it is just a start.. But it is progress.

PS We're making headway on the KRM commuter rail system as well... In 5 year Milwaukee could see a downtown streetcar, commuter rail and high speed rail... We'll see.

Anonymous said...

Right. I would still like to see LRT in Milwaukee, besides the streetcar loop. It's still a small step with what is coming.